Tunisia invests in high-speed rail link
High-speed freight and passenger network will create rail link between Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria and Libya
Tunisia is planning to invest $ 5.5 billion over the next decade in the development of a high-speed rail link with the neighbouring states of Morocco, Algeria and Libya.
Despite the North African state having a mainline rail network covering more than 2,100km, operational efficiency is hampered by gauge differences and limited electrification.
Investment in transport infrastructure in Tunisia has tended to favour the country’s road network while international trade is heavily-concentrated on its sea ports, which handle an estimated 95% of all imports and exports.
All this has left rail freight as the poor relation in Tunisia’s logistics chain with shippers and forwarders transporting less than 10% of their freight by train.
However, the situation could change radically with the proposed ‘Trans-Maghreb’ high-speed rail
service, linking Casablanca with Tripoli, via Algiers and Tunisia and facilitating both passenger and cargo movements.
The project would see Tunisia build 780km of TGV rail track, as well as the related support infrastructure.
However, at a summit meeting hosted by Tunisia’s Transport ministry to discuss the ‘Trans-Maghreb’ - which brought the country’s shippers union and representatives of state railway utilities in Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Mauritania and Tunisia - no time-frame was drawn-up for construction work to begin nor is it known when the first trains will enter service.
Commenting on the project, Tunisia’s Secretary of State for Foreign Trade, Chokri Mamoghli, said the Maghreb has a leading role to play in the transport sector, serving as it does as a bridge between Africa and Europe and the Mediterranean, in the east and the Atlantic Ocean in the west.
He underlined that it was vital that a more efficient and modern transport infrastructure be put in place, as this would promote competitiveness in trade on both a national and regional level.
Despite the North African state having a mainline rail network covering more than 2,100km, operational efficiency is hampered by gauge differences and limited electrification.
Investment in transport infrastructure in Tunisia has tended to favour the country’s road network while international trade is heavily-concentrated on its sea ports, which handle an estimated 95% of all imports and exports.
All this has left rail freight as the poor relation in Tunisia’s logistics chain with shippers and forwarders transporting less than 10% of their freight by train.
However, the situation could change radically with the proposed ‘Trans-Maghreb’ high-speed rail
service, linking Casablanca with Tripoli, via Algiers and Tunisia and facilitating both passenger and cargo movements.
The project would see Tunisia build 780km of TGV rail track, as well as the related support infrastructure.
However, at a summit meeting hosted by Tunisia’s Transport ministry to discuss the ‘Trans-Maghreb’ - which brought the country’s shippers union and representatives of state railway utilities in Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Mauritania and Tunisia - no time-frame was drawn-up for construction work to begin nor is it known when the first trains will enter service.
Commenting on the project, Tunisia’s Secretary of State for Foreign Trade, Chokri Mamoghli, said the Maghreb has a leading role to play in the transport sector, serving as it does as a bridge between Africa and Europe and the Mediterranean, in the east and the Atlantic Ocean in the west.
He underlined that it was vital that a more efficient and modern transport infrastructure be put in place, as this would promote competitiveness in trade on both a national and regional level.
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